S&W 1911Sc question...

[Glock 'em down]

Today I was fiddlin' around with my "new" 1911Sc, installing some new grip panels and what-not. I had the slide locked back, thumbed down the slide stop and when the pistol closed, the hammer fell to half-cock.

Is this normal? What caused that to happen?

I did not have a magazine in the pistol hence I did not chamber a round.

I've often heard 1911 gurus and aficionados say that you should never drop the slide on an empty 1911. Why?

 

[presspics]

dropping to half cock is a bad thing. Call S&W!

 

[Glock 'em down]

dropping to half cock is a bad thing. Call S&W!

Well, what's funny is it doesn't do it every time.

I did it about 4 or 5 times and it done it once.

I cycled three full mags of ammo thru it (not firing, just cycling) and it never did it once.

 

[LuddhaBuddha]

It's not so great for you to drop the slide on an empty chamber, it puts alot of strain on the frame in the slide stop hole area. You're probably getting the hammer follow because of it not having the resistance of a bullet and is slamming forward too hard.

Checking it with dummie rounds or snapcaps is best before using live ammo. If it passes that test loading one live round in the mag at a time and firing at the range, then 2 or three rounds. If it doesn't pass you can adjust the middle prong on the sear spring to put more tension on the sear and disconnector which will make the trigger pull a bit harder but should stop the hammer follow.

 

[Glock 'em down]

It's not so great for you to drop the slide on an empty chamber, it puts alot of strain on the frame in the slide stop hole area. You're probably getting the hammer follow because of it not having the resistance of a bullet and is slamming forward too hard.

Checking it with dummie rounds or snapcaps is best before using live ammo. If it passes that test loading one live round in the mag at a time and firing at the range, then 2 or three rounds. If it doesn't pass you can adjust the middle prong on the sear spring to put more tension on the sear and disconnector which will make the trigger pull a bit harder but should stop the hammer follow.

That's good advice - thanks!

 

[upcountry]

LuddhaBuddha is correct.
I've heard that from gunsmiths regarding most semi-autos, but especially on 1911 type guns.
My wife's custom Caspian was doing the same thing when she did it, so she was told not to do it for the same reasons.

 

[40cal]

I've often heard 1911 gurus and aficionados say that you should never drop the slide on an empty 1911. Why?

True if your 1911 is an original Colt design with an Internal extractor. When you let the slide slam the internal extractors head hits the frame, this will wear it out before long. So you should always slowly lower the slide by hand on a empty chamber. The S&W 1911 does have a External extractor so it is not much of an issue with the S&W pistol.
As far as your following hammer I would have it looked at, does not sound like its functioning corectly.

 

[Gunner11]

By all means, call S&W. I've never had a problem with my 1911SC (early billboard slide) but my 1911PD went full auto on me at the range; (hangin' on to a 34 oz hunk of gun metal in full auto was a real hoot). Anyway, I called S&W, told them what happened and the first thing the guy said was "We want that back". Needless to say they paid for everything and I had the gun back in a week. It had a decent trigger before and an even better trigger when it came back. Been two years now it has not hiccuped since.

 

[LuddhaBuddha]

True if your 1911 is an original Colt design with an Internal extractor. When you let the slide slam the internal extractors head hits the frame, this will wear it out before long. So you should always slowly lower the slide by hand on a empty chamber. The S&W 1911 does have a External extractor so it is not much of an issue with the S&W pistol.
As far as your following hammer I would have it looked at, does not sound like its functioning corectly.

It will still slam the slide into the barrel, linkage, and slide stop pin putting strain on the frame wearing it out that much faster. This is the 1911 frames weak spot and especially so for the scandium 1911s, the few cracked frames I've seen were at the slide stop pin hole.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Today I was fiddlin' around with my "new" 1911Sc, installing some new grip panels and what-not. I had the slide locked back, thumbed down the slide stop and when the pistol closed, the hammer fell to half-cock.

Is this normal? What caused that to happen?

I did not have a magazine in the pistol hence I did not chamber a round.

I've often heard 1911 gurus and aficionados say that you should never drop the slide on an empty 1911. Why?

A 1911 should be able to withstand the occasional drop from slide lock without a round in the chamber. You have a dangerous condition in that there is not enough bearing surface on the hammer and a sufficient jarring will cause it to fall. That is NOT normal, and it is a sign of bad hammer sear engagement. You must get it repaired by a qualified person immediately.